Free media in Southeast Europe conference planned for Sarajevo

VIENNA, 22 June 2000 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Europe are organising a conference on Free Media in Southeast Europe: Protection of Journalists, Prevention of Conflict and Reconciliation. The conference will take place in Sarajevo on 10-12 October in the framework of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe.

Media policy makers from international, governmental, and professional organizations as well as media professionals from the region will participate in this conference. Designed to propose an action plan for development of regional strategies to promote free media, the conference will focus on the current state of freedom of the media in the region and will assess the media's role in conflict prevention and in the process of reconciliation. Among the topics that will be discussed are: Status and Treatment of Journalists in the Region; Exposing War Crimes and Corruption; and Reform of State and Political Control of the Media.

Journalists and media outlets in the region are under considerable pressures that vary from one area of the region to another. Serbian independent media are working under oppressive and often brutal restrictions, while Kosovar journalists find themselves in an active zone of heightened tension. In between these extremes, the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina work in highly politicised conditions in which the overt and covert battle for control of the media by nationalistic political parties defines the spectrum of content. Media in other areas of the region fall within this range of experience. In addition, many areas of the region will be holding pivotal elections in the Fall 2000, and the role of media will be crucial to the outcome of these elections.

For additional information, please contact the conference organizers (OSCE BiH) in Sarajevo at e-mail: [email protected] or phone at +387 71 292 228, fax at +387 71 667 988. For OSCE Vienna, contact e-mail: [email protected] or by phone at +43-1 512-21450, fax: +43-1 512-21459 and for Council of Europe, contact email: [email protected] or by phone at +33 388 41 29 19 or fax at +33 388 41 27 05